POMONA¾ On a night when the Cal Poly Pomona men’s basketball team honored
its eight seniors, it was a freshman who stepped to the forefront once again.
Jeff Bonds (Fr., Compton, Mayfair HS) tied a season high with
23 points for the second straight evening and led the Broncos to an 88-66
victory over UC San Diego Saturday night in Kellogg Gym. It was the Broncos’
final home game of the season and eight seniors, including new all-time leading
scorer Lucas LeCour, were honored before the game.
Cal Poly Pomona (17-8, 14-6) clinched no worse than a tie for
third place in the CCAA, which is the best finish for the Broncos since the
conference expanded four seasons ago. UC San Diego, which upset the Broncos in
La Jolla earlier this season, fell to 7-20 overall and 4-16 in conference.
The Broncos broke the game open with a big run to start the
second half and didn’t slow down until they had one of the top offensive
outbursts of the season. Cal Poly Pomona, which led by six, 34-28, at halftime,
outscored the Tritons, 54-38, in the second half.
Bonds had a season-high 12 rebounds to go along with his 23
points and he led five Cal Poly Pomona players in double figures. Junior center
Steve Lambert had 14 points, freshman forward David Sybesma had 13 points,
senior guard Marques Montgomery had 11 points and senior forward Rafael
Zielonka had a season-high 10 points in his final appearance in Kellogg Gym.
After leading by just six points at halftime, Cal Poly Pomona
opened the second half with a 15-1 run to open up a 49-29 advantage on a slam
dunk by LeCour with 16:27 to play. The Broncos stretched their lead to as many
as 32 points before settling for the final 22-point margin of victory.
Prior to the game, seniors LeCour, Montgomery, T.J. Williams,
Zielonka, David Erickson, Raymond Hubbard, Jimmy Landry and Jesse Altamirano
were honored for their contributions to the Cal Poly Pomona program. The
Broncos have clinched their eighth straight winning season, which is the best
run in the program’s history.